Shea showdown: Mulder vs. Martinez

• 1:10 p.m. ET: The Pitching Matchup of the Day will be in Shea Stadium, where the Cardinals' Mark Mulder faces Pedro Martinez of the Mets. In his last five starts, Mulder has thrown 39 innings, allowed five earned runs and seven walks and struck out 25. Opponents are hitting a mere .145 against Martinez.

• 7:05: The Reverse Lock will be in Houston. Roger Clemens goes for career victory No. 331. He'll face the Giants' Brett Tomko, who has 76 career victories. Even with the Astros struggling for runs, logic points to a Houston victory  so look for San Francisco to scrape this game out. Tomko threw very well in his last outing.

• 7:05: Game 3 of the Big Series between the Orioles and White Sox, a battle of two first-place teams. Daniel Cabrera, clocked at 100 mph in his last start, works for Baltimore against Freddy Garcia of Chicago.

• 7:10: The Guy Most Likely To Go Deep is Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals hitting against Hideo Nomo of the Devil Rays, who has given up seven bombs in 35 2/3 innings this season. Sweeney already has one career homer against Nomo, along with five other hits, in 18 at-bats.

• 10:05: Wade Miller looked great in his first outing for Boston, and he'll get his second start in Seattle, vs. Ryan Franklin.

• 10:10: With Eric Gagne expected back at work, the Dodgers play the second game of the three-game series against the Braves. Mike Hampton of Atlanta works against Odalis Perez.

Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. His book, "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," is available in paperback and can be ordered through HarperCollins.com.